


The Things We Say

by StanningJay



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Prompt, prompted, writing challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StanningJay/pseuds/StanningJay
Summary: Only Fitzsimmons could manage to have two different conversations while actually having the same conversation.
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26
Collections: QuakeriderValentine'sDay





	The Things We Say

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by the Quakerider Writers' Guild for a Valentine's challenge. 
> 
> My prompt was "First late night in the Lab" for Fitzsimmons. I chose to write about their first night on the bus at the very start of the series.

“Couldn’t sleep either?”

Leo jumped out of his skin at the sound. “Bloody hell, Simmons.”

“Sorry Fitz,” she said, grinning sheeplishly. She clutched two steaming mugs. “I thought you might be here.” _She knows me too well._ He accepted the mug with a silent smile.

He was leaning against the table, trying to appear casual. She moseyed beside him, nudging her hip into his. “It’s all a bit much, isn’t it?”

He blew on the surface of his tea. “What’s a bit much?”

“All of this.” She gestured vaguely around the deserted lab. “Twenty four hours ago we were looking through a binder of assignment offers for various SHIELD operations—“

“—and then you let Agent Coulson and his red velvet cupcakes seduce you right past many other offers into this flying circus.”

“We don’t know it’s going to be a circus,” said Jemma, but her wide eyes told him she feared it would be just that.

“Yeah.” He glanced around. “If it was a circus, we’d have monkeys.”

They sipped their tea in silence for a while, surveying their new kingdom. Considering they’d only accepted Agent Coulson’s offer eighteen hours ago, he’d certainly moved fast in building a mobile lab exactly to their specifications. Leo wondered shrewdly if Coulson had advance knowledge that they’d accept his offer. How had he known red velvet were Jemma’s favorites, anyway?

Jemma set down her mug and meandered around the lab. She ran her fingers over an electron scanning microscope. Her hands were so white, so pale, so small. Leo’s own hands twitched. They didn’t speak for some time. “Were we mad to do this?”

“One hundred percent, Simmons. And what d’you mean _we?_ ”

“Oh, Fitz,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You know we wouldn’t have come if you didn’t actually want to.”

_You wanted to. You know I’d follow you anywhere._ “Well,” he said, shrugging. “We’re here now.”

“We certainly are.” She stepped away from the equipment, back toward Leo. Jemma had a habit of standing much too close, he’d found. He turned away hastily, flicking through some of his notes on the work table, not seeing.

“What do you think of Ward?” he found himself asking, suddenly.

Jemma gave a little shiver, which made him frown. “He’s a bit scary, isn’t he?”

“I dunno,” said Leo, wishing now that he hadn’t asked. “He’s not as scary as May, certainly.”

Jemma laughed, a bright little sparkling sound. “Come on Fitz, she’s about half your size!”

“Well that doesn’t mean anything,” he said, bumping his elbow into hers. “I wonder who she is.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, everyone on this bus is remarkable. Coulson told me he and Director Fury handpicked the team.”

“ _Remarkable_ ,” scoffed Jemma. “Not me.”

_Especially you._ “Well no, not just you. You with me.”

She gave him a shove, smiling. “Ah yes, of course.”

***

Jemma felt like a little girl at a slumber party. She was in her pajamas, nice ones her mum had bought her, raiding the fridge on a top secret mobile base. She wasn’t sure what it was about this bus that made her tingle with a pleasant sort of fear, a strange amalgam of anxiety and excitement, yet here she was. She knew Fitz would be awake. He could never sleep the first night in a new place.

She filled two mugs with steaming water and was pleasantly surprised by the perfectly respectable collection of teas in the cabinet. Agent Coulson certainly had done his homework. Jemma brought the mugs to the lab, sure she’d find Fitz there. She smiled, looking at the back of his curly head, finding him right where she expected him to be. That was the nice thing about Fitz.

“Couldn’t sleep either?”

He nearly vibrated straight out of his cardigan. “Bloody hell, Simmons!”

“Sorry, Fitz.” She couldn’t suppress a smile as she passed him his tea. “I thought you might be here.” She inhaled; now that she was here she felt awkward. Maybe he’d wanted to be alone. “It’s all a bit much, isn’t it?”

“What’s a bit much?”

Jemma swept her eyes over the lab that was now hers. Hers and Fitz’s. Theirs. “All of this. Twenty four hours ago we were looking through a binder of assignment offers for various SHIELD operations—“

“—and then you let Agent Coulson and his red velvet cupcakes seduce you right past many other offers into this flying circus.”

Too bossy, that’s what she’d been told all her life. And here she’d bossed Fitz right out of his happy little comfort zone and into a mobile lab. Agent Weaver had advised them against this placement, but Jemma had been bursting to travel, bursting for adventure, bursting to work with one of SHIELD’s most decorated agents. “We don’t know it’s going to be a circus,” she wheedled.

“Yeah,” he replied, and she noticed a small glint of mischief in his eyes. “if it was a circus we’d have monkeys.”

Her mouth twitched. She glanced around the lab, and wondered if there was anything on earth quite as beautiful as this tranquil moment, surrounded by the pristine equipment they’d use to unravel the mysteries of the universe. It was _theirs,_ this lab. _Their_ universe. A universe which, of course, had its own mysteries. Jemma felt her cheeks begin to grow hot so she turned away, running her hands along an electron scanning microscope. She and Fitz had spent so much time in the lab over the years at their academy, but there was something else at play here. Something new, something so private and fearful she was scared to look it directly in the eye. “Were we mad to do this?” She heard herself say.

“One hundred percent, Simmons,” Fitz replied without a moment’s hesitation. “And what d’you mean _we_?”

“Oh, Fitz,” she said, rolling her eyes. _Say it’s not true._ “You know we wouldn’t have come if you didn’t actually want to.” _I would have stayed, if you’d wanted._ It would have broken her heart to pass up this chance, but leaving her partner would have been a different sort of heartbreak.

“Well,” he said, and she tensed—his voice was deeper now, suddenly sure and certain. “we’re here now.”

She turned back toward him, glowing. “We certainly are.”

_Was this the moment?_ She stepped closer to him, but he turned away.

“What do you think of Ward?”

Jemma twitched, faltering. She shifted to lean against the table. _Why was he bringing up Ward?_ “He’s a bit scary isn’t he?”

“I dunno,” said Fitz. She could see him frown down at his notes, in profile. “He’s not as scary as May, certainly.”

Like a thief he stole the laugh from her lips, any tension from the missed moment forgotten. “Come on Fitz, she’s about half your size!”

“Well that doesn’t mean anything. I wonder who she is.” As Fitz turned, his elbow bumped against hers, raising gooseflesh on her arm.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, everyone on this bus is remarkable. Coulson told me he and Director Fury handpicked the team.”

“ _Remarkable_ ,” scoffed Jemma. _Not everyone. Just you._ “Not me.”

“Well no, not just you. You with me.”

Jemma tucked her chin to her chest, taking a hasty sip of tea to hide her smile.

She gave Fitz a playful shove. “Ah yes, of course.”


End file.
